Wall and arch construction



- June 7, 193s. A M KOHLER 2,120,133

WALL AND ARCH .CONSTRUCTION Original Filed Jan. 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Original Filed Jan. 22, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. nhony M Kohler Patented June 7, 1938 UNirEns- STATES 'PATENT OFFICE WALL AND ARCH CONSTRUCTION Application January 22, 1935, Serial No. 2,863 Renewed November 13, 1937 14 Claims.

This invention relates to furnaces. It comprehends furnace erection which eliminates a costly operation in the manufacture of the refractory elements for a furnace and provides for the building of a furnace with preformed refractory elements mechanically bonded without the necessity of supplying especially formed elements to receive bonding members in interlocking relationship. In other words, the invention enables the furnace builder to erect a bonded wall furnace of high efficiency with bricks of but one size and shape. It results in a marked decrease in erection costs and provides a novel method of building furnace walls and arches.

A further object of the invention is to improve furnace building methods in such a Way that a. complete furnaceincluding bonded arches and walls may be built with plain rectangular shapes of bricks of high refractory-andinsulating properties which are all identical in shape, design or manufacture. By the use of the invention the furnace erector need not be supplied with refractories of various kinds and shapes for different parts of the furnace.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a method of building refractory walls wherein the pierceable bricks of an inner wall are bonded to each other and to an outer insulating and supporting wall by impaling individual bricks of the inner wall on pointed metallic tie members dur- 30 ing the erection of the inner wall.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view illustrating the manner in which the furnace wall is constructed.

Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view through the wall indicating the manner in which the elements of the wall are bonded.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through a part of the wall and the arch, showing the manner in which the arch is constructed. y

Fig. 4 is a detailed view of a modification of the bonding members. A

Fig. 5 is a detailed view showing the Fig. 4 structure in plan. 45 Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the metallic bonding member of the Fig. 4 and the Fig. 5 construction.

Fig. 7 is a viewI in the nature of a vertical" section through a furnace representing another 50 embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a view in the nature of an end elevation of the Fig. 7 arch when the last row (shown) v of refractory elements is removed.

5'5 Fig. 9 is a partial section, showing on a. larger (cm2-101) 4 y scale, the wall bonding elements ofthe Fig. 7

embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of brick bonding element. A

Fig. 11 is aperspective view of the arch impaler or suspending and bonding element.

Fig. 12 shows a sheet metal brick bonding member in perspective, and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an additional embodiment of the sheet metal brick bonding member.

The refractory elements of the arch and the inner wall of the illustrative furnace are of light Weight. They are porous to a certain extent. and their thermal conductivity is of such an order that there may be a temperature in excess of' 2000 F. at their furnace ends while the temperature at their opposite ends is such that it is not above normal room temperature. The weight of the elements is from one-half to onesixth .the weight of flrebrick which have been used in the prior art. They can be pierced or impaled to a limited extent without breaking.

In building the illustrative furnace wall in the manner ihdicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, a course of the insulating firebrick is laid upon a suitable `base and is positioned as a row spaced from an outer wall indicated at ill. The tops of these bricks are preferably about level with the mid-parts of the openings I4 formed in the outer wall. Metallic bonding members are then inserted through these openings.v The movement of these members through the wall l0 is limited by the heads I6 in such a way that the upwardly tected to such an extent thatthere will ybe no failure of furnace operation due to the'melting ofthe metal of those members. the brick together with their properties whereby they can be pierced to a limited extent permits This quality of' the use of bonding members which are constructed of relatively light material. Economy of insulation is thereby promoted.

After each bonding member is in the' position indicated a block 22 may be positioned above it to cushion the blow of a vhammer which 'forces the lowerprong down into the insulating i'irebrick. This operation may be continued along the entire extent of the wall, with each brick having a bonding member holding it to the outer wall I0.

The second course of brick is then brought into position above, and in alignment with the lower course. Each individual brick of this second course is then subjected to a separate blow to impale it upon one of the upwardly extending prongs of a bonding member. This operation is then continued until the bricks of the second course are entirely bonded to the bricks below them and to the outer wail 0.

It will be observed from the Fig. 1 disclosure that the block 22.covers the portion of the bonding members which extends parallel to the contacting surfaces of the superposed brick. Adequate seating of these portions within the brick material by the blows is promoted by constructing the bonding elements of narrower strips. They may b e made of wire or small diameter half round bars to foster the necessary limited pressing of the bricks to seat these portions of the bonding members and permit successive. bricks to be in contact.

The above described operations are continued until the wall has reached such a height as that indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Thereupon -a temporary support 24 may be positioned on top of the wall, for use in the construction of the arch.

In the illustrative method of constructingthe arch a temporary stop 26 is provided at the ends of the support 24. Thereafter the end bonding members or hangers 28 are strung upon rods 40 in the position indicated. The rods 40 may be mounted upon transverse members 88 supported at their ends by I beams 88, and the hangers 28 may be abutted against any suitable stop. 'I'he bricks of the first course of the arch are then placed upon the support 24 and are brought into contact with the prongs.\44 of the bonding members 28. These bricks are then struck blows to impale them upon the prongs 44 and a succeeding course of bricks is laid in place. Another row of bonding members 30 is placed in position and they are treated in a similar manner to cause them to pierce the brick and be thereby maintained in position. These operations are continued until the entire archgis formed and then the temporary support 24 is withdrawn and .the walls of the furnace are completed.

Figs. 4, 5, and -6 of the drawings illustrate a modification in which the metallic bonding membersare single fiat metallic pieces 46. 'I'hey are provided at their ends with upwardly and downwardly struck prongs 48 and 50 and at their other end they are provided with cam slots 82. The

operative position of these members with respect to the wall is shown. in Fig. 4. This figure indicates cam wedges or keys 84 which may be driven through the slots 52 to bind the outer wallgand the isnsner wall against the -intermediate insulaion Fig. 1 indicates a procedure' with the use ofl which all of the metallic bonding members of the furnace may be of the same type. They may all have the circular heads 58 in order that some of them may be used for supporting the arch. After these bonding members are used in the construction of the wall they may be struck blows as indicated in Fig. 1 to form the flat heads I8.

The light weight of the bricks and their high thermal conductivity permits the use of metal panels in the outer wall. These panels are flanged as indicated at 64 and 86 in Fig. 1 and these flanges may be secured to any suitable supporting members such-as I beams when used as columns. Fig. 6 indicates the flange 62 on one of these panels as secured to the I beam 38.

When the insulation 56 is in the form of insulating boards the openings 58 formed therein will conform to the shape of the openings |4.in the outer wall l0. It will be noted that these-openings are shaped to allow the prongs |8 and 20 of the bonding members to pass therethrough while preventing the heads of the bonding members from such movement.

' The manufacture of the illustrative brick and the material from which they are made are such that these bricks constitute a building structure in which there are small uniformly distributed voids of the same order of magnitude. ATheir extent is indicated by the fact that they may constitute up to of the volume of the individual bricks. y

When brick impalers such as those shown in Figs. 10.12 and 18 are positioned between adjacent bricks a slight pressure manually exerted will impale the bricks. They may be then transferred as a unit to their Wall. or arch forming position. In forming the Fig. 7 arch two of such units may be contiguously arranged and a similar assembly spaced from the first. The impaler l0 (Fig. 11) may then be positioned between these assemblies and pressure exerted on the latter to impale them on the double-pointed spikes 12.'

When the impaler 10 is then positioned with a beam such as the rod or pipe 14 within the loop of the former, a composite arch unit is in arch forming position with eight bricks, having a total mass of the order of 16 pounds suspended by a metallic impaler the mass of which is of the order oftwo ounces.

When a temporary arch support (like 24, Fig. 3) is used in the erection of the Fig. 7 arch,` the individualbricks 16 may be successively impaled, several brick impalers being used between the successive suspension impalers 10 as illustrated.

In either case, the total weight of the arch is of such an order that the-beams 14 may be of low cost and small weight.

Fig. 'I shows a wall having widely spaced bond- .ing impalers 18, 80, and 82 uniting the outer wall 84 with the inner wall and the insulator 86. In this modification thebonding impalers are screw threaded shanks split at their inner ends to form the spikes 80 and 92. Their outer ends extend through outer wall openings 94 which are preferably larger in diameter than the shank. The parts of the wall may be tightly bonded by turning up the nuts 96 on the screw threaded ends of the Shanks after all of the bricks 88 are impaled in the positions shown in Fig. 7. There are here eight bricks between successively superposed bonding impalers, these intermediate bricks being manually impaled in succession with the brick impalers |00 manually seated between them. One of these elements is shown in Fig. 12. It is a thin metal disk with two upstanding prongs |02 and |04 struck up from the metal at its center. Along the two other sides of the square hole |06 at the center of the disk two similar prongs |08 and ||0 are bent downwardly. When this disk shifting movements be they longitudinal or trans-/ (I .n armies verse. An apertured block may be used for pressing a similar disk into the top brick of this unit, and these operations repeated until the wall is complete.

The brick impaler shown in Fig. 10 consists of a thin metal disk iid with spikes iid and iid normal theretoand welded in position. Alternatively, a double ended spike may be inserted through a hole in the disk and secured by welding.

In the formation of an impaler like that shown in Fig. 13 a single square piece of thin sheet metal may b'e used. Opposite corners are then bent to form prongs. When they are bentin the same direction the prongs i2@ and E22 are formed and oppositely directed prongs i2@ and 62d are formed by similarly bending the remaining corner portions. Thus, in effect, two mutually-reinforcing channels are formed, with the main body portion t28 constituting the base or web of each channel.

Starting with a square sheet of metal two opposite corners may be reversely bent to opposite positions in which they are normal to the main body portion. When, thereafter, the remaining -results secured by the embodiment shown in corner portions are similarly treated, there is produced a brick impaler which has some Vof the Fig. 12.

Referring again to Fig. l1, hooked suspension impalers are formed when the wire forming the main body of the impaler (and leading from the right hand spike 72) is terminated at a position indicated by ,the line -y. The arch units are preferably smaller in this case, and the wire may more effectively take tension stresses, but there must be a separate beam (such as beam 1li) fo each row of units. f

What is claimed is:

1. In a method of building a refractory furnace arch of light weight insulating firebrick having entirely plane surfaces, disposing an initial row of rebrick on a base which determines the ultimate `fire face of the arch, impallng the initial firebrick on metallic hangers or bonding members which ultimately will supportthe arch, impaling the bricks of the next row on the same bonding members by forcing them toward the initial firebrick, continuing the same steps with succeeding rows until the entire surface of the arch is formed and then removing the base.

2. In a method ofbuilding a furnace wall of porous insulating firebrick which can be pierced without fracture, bonding the bricks in successive courses to each other and to an external support by impaling the bricks on metallic bonding members which are forced completely into the plane faced sides of the bricks.

3. In a method of building a refractory furnace arch of porous insulating iirebrick which can be pierced without fracture, impaling successive iirebrick on projections of metallic hangers, and assembling the hangers on arch supports so that a complete arch is formed.

4. In a furnace, an outer wall provided with small openings, headed metallic bonding members having transverse impaler portions at their ends opposite their heads, the openings permitting the impalers to pass therethrough but being too small to allow the heads to pass, pierceable insulating iirebricks impaled on the bonding members and forming an inner wall spaced from the outer wall and held in position by the latter, said rebricks being pierceablewithout fracture and having such insulating properties that there may be a temperature differential in excess of 2000" F. between porous insulating firebrick which can be their opposite ends during the operation of a furnace.'

5. The method of building furnaces which includes the us'e of porous light weight flrebrick elements assembled to bound the furnace space and the impaling of those elements 'on bonding members during the erection of the furnace to maintain them in alignment 'and to tie them to external supports.

6. In a furnace, an outer wall which is substantially gas tight, an inner wall spaced from the outer wall and consisting of porous light weight bricks which are capable of being impaled without fracture, and metallic impalers partially inserted through openings in the outer wall and having their impaling parts between successive bricks which are forcibly impaled to bond the ,inner wall to the outer wall.

7. In the art of building furnaces capable of withstanding flames or gases at temperatures greater than 2000u F., laying a course of porous 'lightweight refractory firebrick of plain rectangular shape, disposing oppositely pointed metallic bonding members with some of their pointed portions directed transversely to the d course of said iirebrick in alignment with the first course and adjacent the remaining pointed portions of said bonding members, impaling the firebrick of the lastcourse upon said. remaining pointed portions and forcing them into substantial contact with the rebrick of the rst course, and continuing these operations until the furnace is completed.

8. The method of building a furnace wall of pierced without fracture, comprising, bonding the bricks in successive superposed courses to each other and to a spacedexternal support by impaling the brick on metallic bonding members which are forced into the plane faced sides of the brick, disposing compressible insulating material in the space between the external support and the brick, and exerting force upon the bonding members to press the brick and the insulating material against the external'supports. v

9. In a Wall, spaced wall bonding impalers, a plurality of bricks between successivel impalers, and a plurality of brick impalers between successive wall bonding impalers.

10 In a, furnace arch, spaced arch suspending impalers constructed of small gauge wires bent to receive arch supporting beams, a plurality of brick impalers, between successive suspending impalers, and bricks separating the impalers and combining therewith to form separate arch units.

11. A furnace construction including cellular insulating flrebrick which can be pierced Without fracture, external holding means, and lightweight metallic tying members having their outer ends anchored to the holding means, said members having at their opposite ends transverse brick impaling projections which are forced into the brick during the building of the furnace.

12. A furnace construction including lightweight insulating rebrick which can be pierced at its face without fracture, external holding means, and tying members extending from said holding means to the rebrick and having their outer ends anchored to the holdingy means, said members having at their inner ends brick impaling projections which are forced into the brick during assembly.

10 `during assembly.

14. A furnace wall construction including lightweight insulating lrebrick which can be pierced at its face without fracture, external holding means, and lightweight metallic tying members having their outer ends movably connected to `the holding means for permitting relative expansion of the bricks and said means, said.y

members having at their inner ends brick impaling projections which are forced into the brick during assembly.

ANTHQNY M. Korman. 1o 

